Author: Lara Chatinian

                                        Friday, July 3, 2020

Prosecutors Appeal Against Kocharian’s Release
July 03, 2020
        • Naira Bulghadarian

Armenia -- Former President Robert Kocharian (L) and his lawyer Hayk Alumian 
arrive for the latest session of his trial, Yerevan, June 23, 2020.

Prosecutors have formally asked the Court of Cassation to overturn a lower 
court’s June 18 decision to release Armenia’s indicted former President Robert 
Kocharian from prison on bail.

The Court of Appeals set a record-high bail amount, 2 billion drams ($4.1 
million), when it agreed to free him over the prosecutors’ objections.

Kocharian’s lawyers complained about the hefty sum, saying that his family 
cannot afford it. Nevertheless, the ex-president walked free on June 21 after 
being bailed out by four wealthy Russian businessmen. Three of them, notably 
billionaire Samvel Karapetian, are ethnic Armenians.

The prosecutors denounced the ruling, insisting that Kocharian could obstruct 
justice and pressure other suspects and witnesses in the case. Arsen 
Nikoghosian, the Court of Appeals judge who handed down the ruling, said that 
the massive bail will minimize the risk of such obstruction.

The prosecutors dismissed Nikoghosian’s conclusion in their appeal to the Court 
of Cassation, Armenia’s highest body of criminal and administrative justice.

Incidentally, Kocharian’s lawyers have also appealed to the court. One of them, 
Hayk Alumian, said on Friday that they object to the bail amount and the fact 
that Nikoghosian did not rule out the possibility of Kocharian exerting 
“unlawful influence” other participants of his ongoing trial.

“We believe that there is no likelihood of obstruction,” Alumian told RFE/RL’s 
Armenian service.

Kocharian, his former chief of staff and two retired army generals went on trial 
more than a year ago, accused of overthrowing the constitutional order in the 
wake of Armenia’s disputed 2008 presidential election which sparked deadly 
street clashes in Yerevan.

The ex-president, who ruled the country from 1998-2008, also stands accused of 
bribery. He rejects all accusations leveled against him as politically motivated.

Kocharian was released from jail for the third time since being first arrested 
in July 2018. His previous release was ordered in May 2019 by a district court 
judge who initially presided over the high-profile trial. Kocharian was arrested 
again in June 2019.




Ousted Judge Barred From Constitutional Court Building
July 03, 2020
        • Gayane Saribekian

Armenia -- Constitutional Court Judge Hrant Nazarian.

One of the three members of Armenia’s Constitutional Court dismissed as a result 
of government-backed constitutional changes was denied entry to the court 
building in Yerevan on Friday.

Police officers guarding the building did not allow Hrant Nazarian to enter the 
building less than two weeks after the Armenian parliament passed the 
controversial changes drafted by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s My Step bloc. 
In a statement, the Armenian police said Nazarian ceased to be a court justice 
when they came into force on June 26.

The amendments to the Armenian constitution extended a 12-year term limit to all 
9 members of the Constitutional Court, which has been locked in a standoff with 
Pashinian’s government for the past year. They thereby mandate the immediate 
dismissal of Nazarian and two other judges, Alvina Gyulumian and Felix Tokhian, 
who had taken the bench in the 1990s. They also stipulate that Tovmasian must 
quit as court chairman but remain a judge.

In a joint statement issued on June 25, the four justices challenged the 
legality of the amendments and said they have no intention to resign. Tovmasian 
also said separately that the parliamentary majority’s refusal to send the 
amendments to the Constitutional Court for examination before their passage was 
unconstitutional.

Pashinian and his political allies have dismissed these objections. They 
maintain that the court is not headed by Tovmasian and Nazarian, Gyulumian and 
Tokhian are not its members anymore.

The parliament controlled by Pashinian’s bloc is due to appoint three new high 
court judges within the next two months.

Nazarian, who has served in the country’s highest court for nearly 25 years, 
could not be reached for comment on Friday. He told RFE/RL’s Armenian service 
earlier that he and his ousted colleagues are planning to take legal action 
against the “violation of our rights.”

Gyulumian has indicated that she will appeal to the European Court of Human 
Right (ECHR). She had worked as an ECHR judge from 2003-2014.




Health Minister Defends Armenian Government’s Coronavirus Response
July 03, 2020
        • Astghik Bedevian

Armenia -- Health Minister Arsen Torosian gives a press conference, Yerevan, 
April 10, 2020.

The Armenian government has done a good job tackling the coronavirus pandemic 
and is not solely responsible for the large number of infections in Armenia, 
Health Minister Arsen Torosian insisted on Friday.

“My political evaluation is that considering its resources and situation, 
Armenia has dealt with this global challenge quite well,” Torosian told 
reporters.

“All coronavirus patients in Armenia receive adequate medical care, which has 
not been the case in many more developed countries,” he said. “In that sense, 
the government efforts are more than appropriate and sensible.

“As for the [infection] numbers -- which unfortunately do not decline but are 
registered in gatherings like this, rather than in medical institutions -- they 
depend not only on the government’s steps but also on the behavior of all of us.”

“I can also say that we don’t have an explosive situation,” Torosian went on. 
“According to all projections, we should have had more than 30,000 cases by now 
but actually have only 27,000 cases. So we are managing to contain the spread 
[of the disease] to a certain extent and seem to have flattened the curve since 
mid-June.”

The Armenian Ministry of Health said earlier in the day that 662 more people 
tested positive for the coronavirus in the past 24 hours. The total number of 
coronavirus cases registered in the country of about 3 million thus rose to 
27,320.

The ministry also reported 10 more deaths caused by COVID-19, bringing Armenia’s 
official death toll to 469. According to it, 156 other people infected with the 
virus have died primarily because of other, pre-existing diseases.


ARMENIA -- A medical worker drinks water at the yard of the Grigor Lusavorich 
Medical Centre in Yerevan, June 9, 2020
The official figures show that Armenia has one of the highest infection rates in 
the world. In terms of the number of cases per million people, it is well ahead 
of countries like Britain, Italy and France that have been hit very hard by the 
pandemic. At the same time, the South Caucasus state still has a much lower 
COVID-19 mortality rate.

Opposition leaders and other critics of the Armenian government increasingly 
criticize its handling of the coronavirus crisis. They often cite the example of 
neighboring Georgia where the health authorities have recorded only 943 cases 
and 15 deaths since the start of the pandemic.

The two opposition parties represented in the Armenian parliament initiated on 
Thursday the formation of an ad hoc parliamentary commission tasked with 
investigating the government’s coronavirus response. With senior deputies from 
the ruling My Step bloc criticizing the initiative, it is not clear whether the 
parliament’s pro-government majority will agree to such an inquiry.

“I am ready to answer all questions,” Torosian said when asked to comment on the 
commission.

Speaking at a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian again 
indicated his opposition to re-imposing a nationwide lockdown. Pashinian said 
the government will continue to put the emphasis on getting more Armenians to 
practice social distancing, wear face masks in public and follow other safety 
rules, and minimizing the country’s “economic losses.” He admitted that this 
strategy has not been a success so far.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

 

                                        Sunday, 

Over 100 Tsarukian Backers Detained

        • Artak Khulian

Armenia -- Police detain supporters of Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik 
Tsarukian, Yerevan, .

The Armenian police said on Sunday that more than 100 supporters of Gagik 
Tsarukian were detained while protesting against apparent criminal proceedings 
launched against the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK).

The police spokesman, Ashot Aharonian, told RFE/RL’s Armenian service that they 
were taken into custody because of defying police orders outside the National 
Security Service (NSS) headquarters in Yerevan.

Hundreds of angry Tsarukian supporters rallied there as NSS officers began 
interrogating the BHK leader hours after searching his house. Riot police pushed 
the crowd away from the building. They said that the demonstration is illegal, 
citing a coronavirus-related state of emergency in Armenia.

Following the search, the NSS issued a statement alleging that BHK activists 
handed out vote bribes in the run-up to 2017 parliamentary elections at the 
behest of the party’s “leading members.” Another NSS statement accused two 
gambling firms controlled by Tsarukian of large-scale fraud.

Tsarukian accused the authorities of political persecution when he addressed the 
press before heading to the NSS building.

The BHK’s governing board issued a statement later in the day linking the 
crackdown to Tsarukian’s recent demands for the resignation of Prime Minister 
Nikol Pashinian and his government. It said that the party, which holds the 
second largest of seats in the Armenian parliament, will not bow to the “illegal 
pressure.”

A smaller number of protesters, among them senior BHK parliamentarians, remained 
gathered near the NSS headquarters even after the mass detentions.

One of the lawmakers, Naira Zohrabian, said the authorities may now ask the 
National Assembly to lift Tsarukian’s immunity from prosecution and arrest him. 
“We are ready for all scenarios,” she told reporters.

Meanwhile, Armenia’s human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, said that he has 
dispatched “rapid-reaction teams” to police stations where the BHK backers were 
held. He said they will talk to the detainees to and look into the legality of 
their arrest.




Armenian Opposition Leader’s Home Searched


Armenia -- Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukian (C) emerges from his 
villa in Arinj after it was raided by security forces, Jne 14, 2020.

Gagik Tsarukian, the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK), 
accused the Armenian government of persecuting him for political reasons after 
security forces raided and searched his home early on Sunday.

Tsarukian was summoned to the National Security Service (NSS) and questioned 
there later in the day.

Senior BHK representatives claimed that scores party activists in the country’s 
eastern Gegharkunik province were rounded up early in the morning. They said the 
authorities linked the security sweep to financial activities of a former BHK 
candidate who ran for the Armenian parliament in 2017.

In a statement issued shortly afterwards, the NSS said that “a group of BHK 
members” handed out vote bribes during the 2017 parliamentary election campaign. 
It said it has conducted “about four dozen searches” as part of the 
investigation into the alleged vote buying which it said had been organized by 
the party’s “leading members.” The security service did not mention Tsarukian by 
name.

In another statement, the NSS accused two gambling firms controlled by Tsarukian 
of serious financial irregularities that cost the state more than 29 billion 
drams ($60 million) in damage.


Armenai -- Special police forces guard the entrance to Gagik Tsarukian's villa 
in Arinj searched by law-enforcement officers, .

Tsarukian, who is one of Armenia’s richest men and leads the country’s largest 
parliamentary opposition force, struck a defiant note as he spoke to reporters 
at the entrance to his vast villa in Arinj, a village just north of Yerevan.

He vowed to continue to fight for the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol 
Pashinian and his entire cabinet, again accusing them of mishandling the 
coronavirus crisis and mismanaging the economy.

“This is fabricated and political,” said Tsarukian. “They want put pressure on 
me, blackmail me.”

The BHK leader arrived at the NSS headquarters in Yerevan early in the 
afternoon. More than a hundred of his supporters rallied nearby, chanting 
“Tsarukian!” and “Nikol resign!”

Riot police pushed the small crowd away from the NSS building, detaining several 
protesters in the process. Senior police officers at the scene said the 
gathering is illegal because of the coronavirus-related state of emergency in 
Armenia.

The crackdown came more than a week after Tsarukian criticized the Armenian 
government in unusually strong terms. The tycoon said Pashinian and his cabinet 
must step down because they have failed to contain the coronavirus epidemic and 
mitigate its socioeconomic consequences. He also announced that he will try to 
rally “healthy” political groups and individuals “concerned about country’s 
future.”

Pashinian and his political allies reacted furiously to the unusually harsh 
criticism. The prime minister’s spokeswoman, Mane Gevorgian, claimed that 
Tsarukian attacked the government because he fears being prosecuted on 
corruption, tax evasion and other grave charges. She said the BHK leader should 
also be worried about the recent entry into force of a law allowing authorities 
to confiscate private assets deemed to have been acquired illegally.

The BHK, which has the second largest group in the Armenian parliament, rejected 
the “political blackmail.”


Armenia - Businessman Gagik Tsarukian (L) and protest leader Nikol Pashinian 
speak to reporters in Yerevan, 2 May 2018.

In the 2017 parliamentary race Tsarukian’s party was officially in opposition to 
then President Serzh Sarkisian. The latter was toppled in the Pashinian-led 
“Velvet Revolution” a year later. The BHK voiced support for the revolution 
during its final stage, helped Pashinian become prime minister and joined his 
first cabinet formed in May 2018.

Pashinian fired his ministers affiliated with BHK in October 2018, accusing 
Tsarukian of secretly collaborating with the former regime.

The BHK came in a distant second in the December 2018 parliamentary elections 
and won 26 seats in Armenia’s 132-member parliament. Pashinian’s My Step bloc 
controls 88 parliament seats.


Reprinted on ANN/Armenian News with permission from RFE/RL
Copyright (c) 2020 Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Inc.
1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.